Carlos in DC is a personal blog. I'm a gay undocumented immigrant living in Washington, DC. NOTICE: this blog has been moved back to carlosqc.blogspot.com

Today is the Special Election Day in Washington, DC, where residents will elect one of four At-Large members of the Council, as well as the Ward 4 Member of the State Board of Education, and Ward 8 Member of the State Board. This is an interview with D.C. community activist and former ANC Commissioner Bryan Weaver.

On Election Day, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., qualified electors may register and vote at the polling place for the voter’s precinct of residence by completing a voter registration application, taking an oath or affirmation, and providing proof of residence. [D.C. Official Code § 1-1001.07(g)(5)]

Here is an interview I recorded with one of the candidates for the At-large Councilmember seat, long-time D.C. community activist Bryan Weaver, who is well known in D.C. because of his community project Hoops Sagrado. Read about it in the link included at the end of this post.

The seat’s only open, after all, because its former occupant, Kwame “Fully Loaded” Brown, moved up to the council chairman’s seat following last year’s election. His chief rival for that job, Vincent Orange, is now running in the special election. So is Dorothy Douglas, who also ran against Brown and Orange in 2010. As are Bryan Weaver, who lost a primary challenge to Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham last fall, and Josh Lopez, who spent October trying to rally Adrian Fenty’s supporters to write the latter in on the November ballot. Patrick Mara, who’s also in the race, ran (and won) the Ward 1 Board of Education seat last fall, too.

[…] We’d rather endorse Bryan Weaver, though. He’s spent years working with—and for—at-risk kids in Adams Morgan. He’s demonstrated both a fierce commitment to fairness for all D.C. residents (he’d push for new tax brackets for high incomes, to help balance the city’s budget without putting most of the sacrifice on poorer residents) and a pragmatism that could keep him from being marginalized on the council (as Advisory Neighborhood Commission chairman, he negotiated a deal making hotel developers promise to hire local workers in exchange for a $46 million tax abatement, which is more than other city officials bothered to do). His irritation with the petty scandals at the Wilson Building is clear: He says he won’t take an outside job if elected, something other councilmembers do, despite salaries that are the second-highest in the nation at $125,583 per year. And he would join a growing urbanist bloc on the council that could improve everyone’s quality of life.

[…] Chances are you won’t vote April 26. But if you do, vote for Bryan Weaver.